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Saturday, December 12, 2009

Pink Peppermint Patties - Pink Saturday

From the kitchen of One Perfect Bite...We've been asked to include a favorite ornament in our post today. Mine needs a little explanation. When my parents died, I became the keeper of the things no one else wanted. Tucked among them was the Christmas angel that topped our tree throughout my childhood. Though her age was apparent I couldn't bare to get rid of her, so I used her on our tree for another 30 years. I had intended at some point to replace her, but the angels that came my way were glitzy and not at all like the ones I associated with the manger in Bethlehem. When we sold the big house and moved West she was one of the few ornaments we brought with us. As fate would have it, the van in which our things were moved had a leak and my Christmas angel never saw another holiday. She was damaged beyond repair. I wasn't aware of that until we went to put up our tree on Christmas Eve. My angel had disintegrated. We dashed to a craft store for a replacement, only to find there wasn't a lot left. I saw a large white dove and grabbed it, thinking I'd replace it the following Christmas. Bob dubbed the dove the "pigeon of peace" and she gained such renown within the family that that we never let her go. My eyes at Christmas are always clouded by sentiment, so I hope you'll forgive me if I call her beautiful - almost as lovely as the angel of my childhood.

Today's recipe is a holiday version of peppermint patties. They are very easy to do and a little different from most of the homemade candies associated with Christmas. If you keep the candy base cold you'll have no problems making these. I think you'll enjoy them. Here's the recipe.

Directions:
1) To make peppermint patties: Line a cookie sheet with aluminum foil, smoothing out any wrinkles from foil. Lightly dust foil with confectioners' sugar. Combine sugar, butter, peppermint oil, vanilla extract, evaporated milk and 1 or 2 drops of food coloring in a bowl. Beat with an electric mixer until creamy, about 3 minutes. Add additional evaporated milk by drops if needed to achieve a creamy texture. Transfer to a small bowl, cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate until firm enough to be rolled into balls, about 1 hour. Roll dough into 24 1-inch balls and place on prepared pan. Flatten each ball until patties are about 1-1/2 inches in diameter and 1/3 inch thick. Cover and place in the refrigerator until patties are firm, about 1 hour.
2) To make chocolate coating: Melt chocolate and shortening in a heatproof bowl placed over simmering water. Remove patties from refrigerator and dip, one at a time, into melted chocolate coating both sides of patties with chocolate.olate
Coating: Melt the chocolate and shortening in a heatproof bowl placed over a saucepan of simmering water. Remove patties from refrigerator and dip, one patty at a time, into melted chocolate, making sure both sides of each patty are completely coated with chocolate. Return to cookie sheet. Once all patties have been dipped in chocolate, return to refrigerator and chill until firm, about 1 hour. Store, refrigerated, in an airtight container for up to one month. Yield: 24 small patties.

Recipe adapted from Joy of Baking.com

This post is being linked to:Pink Saturday, sponsored by Beverly at How Sweet the Sound

50 comments
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Hello Ms Mary...Happy Pink Saturday Sweetie. My Daddy loves peppermint patties, and I am going to try to make some for him and mail them to him. Do you think it would work to mail them? Maybe if I froze them real good and then mailed them? What could I wrap them in or would you just put them in one of those tins.

I love your story of your Dove of Peace. She is absolutely beautiful. I love her. She looks to be in very good condition. I am so sad that you lost your angel, but at least you have another memory that will take you through your lifetime. She is beautiful Mary. Thank you for sharing with me tonight.

That story brought tears to my eyes. I am very sentimental about some of my decorations too. I think the white birds is beautiful & definitely a treasure.Merry Christmas to you & happy pinks.ps..thank you for that delicious recipe too.xo Tami

I need your help with something. My work's holiday party includes a cooking contest - I told my boss that I should be a judge, but he laughed and said I have to enter and that the bar is raised for me. Awesome. As you know from my blog, my cooking tends to be more "meals" and not really thing that would travel well and keep until noon when the context is. Do you have any suggestions on just type of things that would be appropriate to bring? I don't really want to bake, since I'm more of a cook and I'm totally stumped. It has to be an appetizer/side or a dessert.

LV...I'd take a cheese mold of some type with lots of good bread. My liptauer mold with rye bread would work well.Ina Garten has a great recipe for spiced nuts that is wonderful, though you want to cut way back on the amount of cayenne pepper she uses. Quiche, a really good one, cut into 1 -inch squares would also work. I hope these ideas help a little.

Oh ... those look so tasty and tempting! I enjoyed your Christmas memory ... sorry your angel disintegrated but the 'pigeon of peace' is perfect ... worthy of the top of your tree each year! ;-)Hugs and blessings,My Pink Saturday

My dear Mary,My eyes are clouded as I read about your precious Christmas angel and your beautiful dove. Such sweet and wonderful memories. This is what Christmas is all about! I am drooling at the sight of those peppermint patties!! Have a Happy Pink Saturday and blessed Christmas season! Vicki

Mary a white dove is supposed to symbolize peace & joy. Think of times when doves are used...weddings, peace rallies, memorial services, etc. I think it's a symbol of harmony, happiness and probably inner peace. With your white dove watching over your holiday festivities, may it bring you a joyous New Year and peace throughout the world!

I love these peppermint patties… a great addition to any cookie collection. Many thanks

Mary, this is such a lovely post. I love the pigeon of peace, and I think that is a great story. Sorry you lost your cherished angel, but I'm glad you found a wonderful subsitute. I admire you for many reasons, and knowing you are the keeper of all things no one wants (I, too, am that in our family), makes me admire you even more.

When Mama died and we divided the ornaments, I took many that were sentimental, among which were some that my father had purchased that were downright scary! Now, what makes it so funny is that Daddy had impeccable taste for the most part, but every now and then, he would see something pretty scary and buy it. We would all laugh and smile, because he was so particular about most things. For example, I would rather Daddy select a piece of jewlery for me than anyone on earth.

This time, though, it was plastic Christmas balls with everyone's names on them. It had everyone from the cat and dog to family members to friends whom we adopted as family. Somehow, I think he knew that his time wasn't long on the earth and wanted us to remember him (like who could ever forget someone as wonderful as my father), but I have to laugh every time I see those go up on the tree. Now, one of my sisters did take hers , my mother's and our dog's. I got my cat's, my father's, mine, my grandmother's, and a man whom we adopted. And I love them as much as any expensive Radko ornament, actually more! I am also the keeper of the paper, but we shall save that for another day. LOVED your post. Thanks for sharing.

We don't need elaborate decorations or a big tree or numerous gifts under a tree. All any of us needs is to carry the spirit of Christmas in our hearts and to share it all year long with everyone we meet.

I teared up a bit reading about the loss of your angel. I know how precious the smallest items can be when we have lost our parents. I totally ♥ your post today.

Thank you so much for sharing your blog with me. Yes, I'm crazy about ♥PINK♥ but I'm also devoted to visiting some of the nicest blogs in cyberspace. BTW, I'm gonna make those peppermint patties!

What lovely sentiment. I love that. Its not these things are so important its the sentiment they are attached too. And the Dove of Peace is just beautiful, really. She is such a messenger of peace, like an angel.

I had to laugh when you became the keeper of all things unwanted. I just inherited a very large Rosary from my Mother. The beads are made from the rose rosary that my Grandmother held in her casket. The fact that my Mom had them, out of eight children, and then handed them to me, meant so much to me. Even though my time with my Babka was brief, I remember her with much love. Those beads and a few other things are my link to her.

I never thought to make home-made peppermint patties, wow! I do believe you should write a cook book devoted to 'pink' recipes...the only things I would have ever come up with are pink frosting, milkshakes and jello desserts. You are so creative in the kitchen and I love the stories to go along with your recipes.

I think a dove ( or pigeon of peace ) is the perfect tree topper! I am wondering what your first angel looked like, because the angels I see in craft stores, etc., are nothing I believe angels are really like...or that they even are good symbolic representations of angels....but that is my humble and ignorant impression for whatever it is worth. As usual, I love reading your blog, even if I don't always comment. Thank-you Mary.

Such a sweet story of the angel. I love the birdie! Perfect for a tree topper. :)These are so pretty. My daughter would love me forever if I made these for her. Perfect for a Valentines Candy too. Bookmarked!!!

What a wonderful Christmas story, Mary! I am so touched by this memory. Your beautiful white Dove as a tree-topper signifies PEACE no matter our losses in life. Such a perfect message for Christmas! Thank you for sharing! Blessings, Coralie

Interesting! At my house we have come up with a few "unique" traditions. We don't put the star on top of the tree until Christmas Eve. Before that, when we decorate the tree, we have long set a dove one branch below the top, one that was among the Christmas decorations passed down in my family. Before I got it I don't remember how the dove was used, but I thought it made the perfect pre-Christmas tree topper. Until now, I had never noticed another dove-topped tree.

What a lovely story. I have to send you a BIG BIG HUG!!!! I love love love peppermint patties....I will be whipping this up as soon as possible. Thank you SOOOooooooo much for the recipe. Happy Pink Monday (LOL)...Licks & Wags, Niki

Hi Mary, I made these today with my daughter and the are wonderful. We used Wilton pink gel and sprinkled crushed candy canes on top, they look so pretty. Here is a picture: https://scontent-b-iad.xx.fbcdn.net/hphotos-frc3/1476473_10202066389173300_2066914259_n.jpg

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